Wake up in the morning
There are several clips from the current tour posted on YouTube. Here’s one that most of us have never heard performed live. Loosen My Strings, PalaWhirlpool, Varese, Italy, November 12, 2007:
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse6.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey.jpg)
There are several clips from the current tour posted on YouTube. Here’s one that most of us have never heard performed live. Loosen My Strings, PalaWhirlpool, Varese, Italy, November 12, 2007:
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Now that’s what I’m talking about. It has whetted my appetite for some more obscure stuff 🙂 Anyway, great song and a great band we have here 🙂
November 20th, 2007 at 17:20Damn, I’d love to hear this sort of stuff more often!!! Nice!!!!!
November 20th, 2007 at 17:43Yeah! They did it yesterday in Belgium too, and it was great! Just a couple of those rare live tracks just really adds extra spices to the concert, which by the way was excellent!
November 20th, 2007 at 18:15Hope to you dP very soon again!
Next time will be my 20th time (since the reunion, not for the Rotd tour :-))
Its great hearing this song live one which I voted for in the recent poll I might add.I think three quarters of the set should now be of the Morse era and the other quarter blackmores era dont get me wrong I love the Blackmore era because he’ll always be my favourite player but I love Steves work just as much and the band should respect that he is now a member longer than Ritchie was and therefore should be playing more of the music he created with the band ……Joe
November 20th, 2007 at 18:20We hope to hear more songs of Perpendicular here in Brazil soon!!!!!Please come back soon!!!!!!!!!!!
November 20th, 2007 at 18:28wow i love that song ! i remember in 96 hearing it for the first time and i loved it !! i wish they would put dont hold your breath or mabye watsername…. iv seen deep purple 3 times and they never did that one .. in 97 they did any fule kno that and seventh heaven … and i was at the perihelion they did mary long and alot from purpindicular .. then recently i seen them in clearwater at least things i never said contact lost was a real treat … im only 23 but i worship these guys !! MY DAD FIRST SEEN PURPLE IN 73 🙂 sometimes i wish i was older so i could see them 20 times dammit .. plus they never come to florida !! 🙁 🙂
November 20th, 2007 at 18:55I agree with Joe.Since just about everyone in the band has acknowledged that Steve Morse saved DP,he deserves to play a lot more of the tunes he helped to write. The “Classic Rock Jukebox” setlist must be quite frustrating for Steve to have to play,show after show.
November 20th, 2007 at 22:33Beautiful, beautiful piece of latter day Purple. This is such a well-crafted song. Nice to hear they are not playing it so safe…
November 21st, 2007 at 07:45Ragazzi semplicemente magnifici…. evviva e lunga vita ai Deep Purple
November 21st, 2007 at 08:59un concerto che mi ha lasciato senza parole.
This is what DP is all about.
Drop the ‘Golden Oldies’ and let Morse ‘go for it’
November 21st, 2007 at 09:00I was in Varese and I’m proud. It was… stunning!!!Amazing!!!
November 21st, 2007 at 09:07We are so happy to ear some “new”stuff from Morse era. Come one Guys, let’s have lot of this kind of stuff!! (from Somebody stole my guitar … to … MTV, there are several possibility!!!)
But, first of all, stop to play “The Battle…” Please, let Steve have chances to play his material. He is the best guitar player in the world, not a cover guitarist!!
Ok for 3 or 4 Purple icone, but refresh the setlist.
No matter about reforming Zep…
Long Life Purple!!!!!
Thanks. Quite nice.
November 21st, 2007 at 09:37Ah, finally they’re doing this gem live! Couldn’t agree more with most people above – all Deep Purple lineups have ALWAYS done their own material most justice (including Mk Turner, ferchrissakes!), more Morse era stuff would be a great addition to the shows. I’m glad I caught them at Brixton in 1996, when they played 7 songs off “Purpendicular” – but not this one, though. 🙂
November 21st, 2007 at 10:16Purpendicular is the best Morse era album and ‘loosen my strings’ is one of the best song.
November 21st, 2007 at 10:47Another beautiful song is ‘sun goes down’ from ‘bananas’.
During the last years Deep Purple has become a nostalgic act.
They should belive more in the new songs.
Damn it.. I was at the Mantova gig two nights before and they didn’t play it.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:33Would love to hear more of the rousing Morse era stuff.. Clearly Quite Absurd, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming etc…
A couple of things:
First of all, this song was a breath of fresh air and certainly Purple needs to throw in a couple of more ‘obscure’ Morse-era songs from time to time.
Second, this song was performed with amazing clarity–a very good mix of tight sound and enough ad lib to make it sound different from the album. This version is much more powerful with the guitar higher in the mix and more distorted. A very good choice from Purpendicular, the best of the Morse-era albums. Leave it to Purple to put so much power into a ballad.
And speaking of Morse, he never ceases to amaze me with his crispness and consistency. He is never sloppy–a testament to all that practice he does. The guy practically always has a guitar in his hand. This is guitar playing at its finest from the technical standpoint.
In a recent blog, Morse talks of wood density, bridge materials, fulcrum shape, pick-up position, fret radii–even square wave harmonics. This is a musician’s musician along the same lines as Joe Satriani–a technical player with a vast amount of musical and physical knowledge. Smart guy. And an amazing player.
It is interesting how different he is from Blackmore, who carved out his frets, lowered the middle pickup out of the way and put in some extra springs in the tremolo–and that was about it. Morse is more of a classical musician whereas Blackmore never played the same thing twice. With Morse, you can count on a solid, consistent performance. With Blackmore, you never knew what was going to happen. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. (Please don’t start a Morse. vs. Blackmore thing!)
And as for Blackmore’s instrument, it was likely to get smashed anyway–who cares what the fret radius was!
Very interesting differences from two masters with different approaches. Both are geniuses in their own way. We are lucky to have had such talent in Purple–and that includes Bolin, whom I re-discovered lately.
Finally, did you notice the little organ outro at the end? This is also a different sound from Lord but really fits the song. Airey has a different style that brings a new element to the band as well. Airey didn’t play on half of the Morse albums, so the result will be new and different.
Glad to see the current Purple can take pride in their latest catalogue. I hope they keep up the good work. This was very exciting to watch. Maybe they are reading the blogs.
November 21st, 2007 at 14:32WONDERFULLLLL …I HEAR THIS SONG IN PARIS OLYMPIA
November 21st, 2007 at 16:01GOOD JOB TO PURPLE ….THIS SONG IS VERY DIFFICULT TO PLAY…..
IN LIVE……… FANTASTIC
Good to hear, and a fine example of SM’s technical excellence. He very rarely seems to have an ‘off’ day, and appears to give his all on every occasion.
Morse is the longest serving guitarist DP has had, and its about time his music became the DP ‘main event’. Its time to move on
November 21st, 2007 at 16:05Yeah, I thought it was a good idea that they replaced the second guitar solo with an organ solo.
November 21st, 2007 at 17:22Absolutely amazing. Wonderful. Great.
November 21st, 2007 at 17:49So, definitely a step in the right direction! Maybe they are finally realising that, to keep the hardcore fans happy, they don’t have to play a complete set list of Morse material (even though that would be interesting as well). DP’s back catalogue is so vast and, especially reunion material, vastly ignored on stage…
November 21st, 2007 at 18:19In liege (belgium) they played this song and it was one of the highlights of the concert !!! A magical concert, really !!
November 21st, 2007 at 19:17One of the very best, if not THE best song of Morse-era Purple. Shame that material of this quality has been the exception rather than the rule over the last dull decade of DP.
November 21st, 2007 at 21:01I AGREE WITH THE PREVIOUS POSTERS. WE SHOULD BE GETTING ABOUT 3/4 MORSE ERA 1/4 BLACKMORE ERA. SUPERB!!!!
November 22nd, 2007 at 14:35the concert in varese was amazing, with incredibile audience: the purple is the best live band of all time! greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 22nd, 2007 at 15:31YES, GETTING ABOUT 3/4 MORSE ERA 1/4 BLACKMORE ERA WOULD BE FINE. Cheers
November 23rd, 2007 at 05:38Read something about a NOT coming reunion the band Gillan(circa Glory Road)……….
November 23rd, 2007 at 14:00Maybe DP can play some?
“Gut Reaction” please……….
“Ain’t No Good Luck”seems to me the blueprint for “Loosen my strings”……..
But what do I know, hehehe
Surely its time to select more Morse era tracks to play live.
I know they must try and satisfy the ‘the unbelievers’, but a compromise must be possible to achieve.
Morse has taken the band from strength to strength.
Fantastic
November 23rd, 2007 at 14:40I also 100% agree with the idea of having a setlist of 3/4 morse and 1/4 blackmore so here’s an idea of a set that follows that. I think 20 songs would be fine concidering morse era songs are usually a bit shorter than blackmore era songs. I added a few more obscure surprises that probably some people have been waiting to here live.
1)Ted The Mechanic
2)Sun Goes Down
3)Kiss Tomorrow Good-bye
4)Strange Kind Of Woman
5)Silver Tongue
6)Seventh Heaven
7)Money Talks
8)Bananas
9)Cascades:I’m Not Your Lover/Well-Dressed Guitar
10)Wrong Man
11)Fingers To The Bone
12)I Got Your Number
13)Loosen My Strings
14)Keyboard Solo/Perfect Strangers
15)69′
16)Rapture Of The Deep
17)Highway Star
18)Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
19)Smoke On The Water
Encore:
20)Speed King (incl. bass/drum solos)
p.s. love the clip of Loosen My Strings, although I wish it was the full versioin instead just the last 4 minutes. Yet it still motivated me to place it in my setlist
cheers everyone
November 23rd, 2007 at 15:58Morse takes DP from pointless to pointless. He’s contributed a few good moments as this clip shows, and his technical ability means that he can play almost anyone’s music, though without any real guts. Deep Purple is “thunder and lightning heading your way” not an episode of the Waltons. For pity’s sake, ‘Get A Grip’ as Black Sabbath once said on their criminally underrated album. Saw Tony Iommi with Heaven And Hell the other week reminding everyone what timeless hard rock/heavy metal is all about, what a contrast to the pondering snoozefest of the Steve Morse era.
November 23rd, 2007 at 23:47Wow…
I got goose bumps.
Sweet song from a sweet band!
We need more Live performances from the Purpendicular, Abandon, Bananas, and Rapture albums. I’m a diehard fan from the early years of the band and love everything the lads have done and some stuff more than others but I find after seeing the band many many times, that the setlists however great have always been lacking in early Morse material. At least in the last 6 or 7 years.
More like this would really be something special.
To the band and previous members as well, Thanks for creating timeless music and true inspiration.
Cheers and Seasons greetings to all from Canada.
November 24th, 2007 at 13:25Pretty good, ZP2011. My only suggestions would be to have about three Morse-era numbers in the set that rotated from night to night and one more older number that did the same earlier in the setlist–something hard, like “Living Wreck”.
November 24th, 2007 at 16:37Hey T, maybe something like rotating “Strange Kind Of Woman” with “Living Wreck” of even “Bloodsucker”. Also rotating “Money Talks” with “Before Time Began”, rotate “Fingers To The Bone” with “Almost Human”, and rotate “Loosen My Strings” with “Don’t Hold Your Breath.” All great songs.
Also, With “Cascades” when Steve goes into solo on live versions and then reprises the song, it goes into “Well-Dressed Guitar.” So, this is a very efficient way to have a full length song and Steve Solo spot.
p.s. Know anything about a new album for 08′? Wish I did!
Bye for now
…o,and to make this so much more interesting, 2011 is my year of high school graduation!
November 24th, 2007 at 18:16Glad to hear they’re putting more Morse songs in the setlist! It’s about time!This was great! Alternating “Loosen My Strings” with “Almost Human” would be cool….
Oh yeah, check out the most recent issue of Guitar Player….they have a great feature article featuring Steve Morse in it, though I believe it could’ve/should’ve been longer.
November 25th, 2007 at 03:55ZP2011, very good ideas.
As far as a new album, Don Airey mentioned something about it being unexpected in some aspect and that is all I have heard.
November 25th, 2007 at 06:32Two-thousand eleven is your graduation? I graduated in 1983…B.C.! You have impeccable knowledge of Deep Purple for someone so young…
November 25th, 2007 at 06:34Think about it. MANY years has gone since RB left DP, and the great Steve Morse came in, BUT stil the battle rages on between fans. Blackmore or Morse. Blackmore IS and will always be the DP guitar player for most fans.
November 25th, 2007 at 11:27NO dout about it. “My” DP will alwas be with Blackmore. His sound IS to me DP. Imagine Stones with Keith R. or Van Halen without Eddie.
I have to accept that RB is not an option anymore, and Steven Morse is GREAT guitar player. They have done a few first class songs/tunes like “House of Pain”, but still only a fraction of Mrk. 2+3 did in half the amount of years.
I saw Deep Purple 36 times. the last one in Varese 2 weeks ago, and, i’ve to say the Varese show is 1 of the best Deep Purple show that i’ve never seen.
November 25th, 2007 at 17:12Heaven & Hell…………zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
November 26th, 2007 at 13:34I really love the Purpendicular album, and the Morse era Purple have been a grat band. R E S P E C T!!
BUT, now I can’t listen to them anymore. I think Ian Gillan has totally lost it, the last few years. He was a great singer, but now he sounds and looks really old.
His moves on stage has become more and more eh…old guy-ish, as has his voice. Especially when he sings the higher notes, he sounds out of air.
I’d rather remember DP as a truly great band with great people in it, rather than what it has become lately imho: a milk cow nostalgia act.
Everything must end, also great bands like DP. I am not really trying to slag them off. I just try to accept that people grow old, and that some things you just can’t do after a certain age.
I am in no position to tell anyone to pack it in, all I can say is that I now consider DP closed. Thanks for many years with good music.
November 26th, 2007 at 16:38Morse keeps it fresh, and even manages to inject some life into the old stale stuff.
The above clip serves to remind us of his abilities, an exceptional player.
Time for Morse to take the reigns and play his music.
Out with the old and in with the new
November 26th, 2007 at 17:24Well said, ‘Rascal’. I agree.
November 26th, 2007 at 18:16As for Ian’s voice, it does seem he has trouble with the fast-paced songs (“Space Truckin” and “Highway Star”), but I think his voice sounds great on the newer, slower songs like “Clearly Quite Absurd”, “Wrong Man”, “Rapture”, and “Walk On”. All the more reason to play more newer Morse-era songs.
I hope they continue, with more albums and tours.
Mr Jone why do you say old people should pack their bags and no longer play what they love? In my opinion, many young singers would like to ‘sound’ like Gillan does now, but somehow it’s simply out of their range.
Accept passing of time and do what you love, as long as you put your heart in it it will do the trick, at least for me.:)
November 28th, 2007 at 08:13I am only saying that I think that at a certain age, things become a bit…..eh…not right anymore. I have always had the highest respect for Ian.
On this particular live clip (Loosen my strings) which is one of my favourite tracks, I don’t think Ian deliver at all. He sounds like an old man struggling. His voice is squeeky and rusty, and he has developed a “pensioner-like” vibrato. Also, I think his moves on stage looks a bit geriatric.
I know I am being really negative here, but its all because of disappointment. The band, the voice I once loved has deteriorated into a pub-level covers band.
I said I was IN NO POSITION to tell anyone to stop. But I have to stop listening to DP. They don’t cut it anymore. I love what they were, and I want to remember that. That’s why I say Goodbye, and thank you to Deep Purple,
November 28th, 2007 at 17:00the greatest band in the world.
Okay, now I see your point. 🙂 That’s true Ian hasn’t got the sound he had way back. And I also understand you may not like his physical condition, anyway to me what counts is that they still deliver blistering live shows. I’ve seen them just once this year in Geneva on May 12. It was one of their best performances I’ve witnessed, and Ian didn’t struggle at all. I also pay the highest respect for him, and I adore his present performances, I love that he is, in fact they are all, at ease. It generates a great enthusiasm in me.
And his voice. Well it may be true that in the fast songs like Highway Star at times it might not be there. But the man is 62, and hard rock is where he came from, it is his music, there’s no reason at all why he should stop singing. Just listen to the two songs he delivers on the new Hoochie Coochie Men album. It is Gillan at his best.
Dissapointment might not be the correct word, or it may be. I don’t know. But be aware of time passing by, he will never sing the way he did when he was 25. Just get on with it. And accept it or say goodbye, as you did. I assume you may regret it in the future. I’m an optimist and stil hope for an album that will be better than ROTD.
Loosen My Strings was recorded eleven years ago. I’m again pointing at passing of time – this fact will never leave the voice untouched, but in my opinion he sounds very well on it.
Again Mr Jone, I respect your opinion and it’s nice to have a gentle conversation. Wish you all the best.
Cheers!!! 🙂
November 28th, 2007 at 18:46about bloody time to, give the ‘new’ guys some freedom and stop being afraid of your own shadow.
November 29th, 2007 at 09:32All the best to you too, Marcinn! The current state of DP might not set the world on fire for me anymore. Given that, I am happy that there is a huge back-catalogue to dive into. And Ian will always be my “singer of all times”.
Cheers!
November 30th, 2007 at 08:26It seems to me that the man in black is still in control and still has his hold on the band because of the set lists since Purpendicula .I’ve read numerous interviews with various members of the DP and they all point to how great it was to get Steve to join the band and I’ve also read a fans account on getting a autograph from Stevec and asking him about set lists being as you all know they are and Steve’s reply was its not up to me and the fan also stated that he did’nt look happy to be there so as far as i’m concerned which I said in an earlier reply 3/4 Morse 1/4 Blackmore its time Steve had his place guys…….Joe
December 5th, 2007 at 21:02“Don’t talk me of love…
December 7th, 2007 at 14:08It’s obvious, it’s not enough…….”
The riff to that song (TBRO) is actually a reworking of Rainbow’s “Fire Dance”…
December 31st, 2007 at 23:24